He frowned, "There are some who would seek to undo everything; an enemy to all of us - the Order and the Diedne alike. The red woman would kill us to water the fields with our blood, but this other threat would destroy us and the fields alike..."

"Undo everything? Why? That seems a pointless endeavor," he said with a shake of his head.

"You can refuse off course, the problem is that often then things will be worse." Arto said and looked down at his hands. "You did this...quickly...once done you made cold to soothe the pain. I could not feed myself, piss or shit without aid, and yet you and the Tremere assisted with those things in a way that let me keep my dignity, or at least some of it. I was treated as a human being while I was a captive, had I been captured by someone else my treatment had been far worse...In another life, I was a good executioner, a very good one, I did not know you I only knew you where a man sentenced for a crime that in no way made you evil or cruel and I ended it with one strike of the blade, should I have left the job to another who might have used a few chops to get through your neck? The boy, your current brother if he had not been taken prisoner by you there is a chance I would have been able to escape with my family after I gave you the information you wanted, but there is also a good chance that I would be captured by the enemy and be forced to become a monster...or another from your own side that would show far less kindness...yes you can choose to be neither son of fire but there is a cost to that choice and you are not always the one paying for it."

"That is a morbid truth to learn, that refusing would only earn those a worse death or a worse life. I suppose a good executioner is better than an inept one," he sighed. "By your wording, trying something outside the realm of these choices is refusal. Have we been cut down so far that there are only two choices left? And then we go around this circle, again and again?" he asked. "And these others that pay the cost...it is not right." He sighed. "Very well, I'm climbing this tree," he said, as if the conversation had soured him. "I will pay the cost myself, whatever it is. Even if I didn't earn it. My amicus here tells me that our mission is worse than Diedne diablorists and that is why we do this now."

"Hum...is it now, but we all could prove to be harmful. how do you choose which to bring pain and fear?"

"When it is necessary."

"She is not family by blood or by training, she is sister to your soul..right now she is an enemy that you both hate and respect, later she will be a sister, a friend many things she will be to you...but yes you must try to remember her, to remember yourself."

"The girl was in a white dress. She held out her hands for me to bind and asked how did I wish to have her hold them. She asked to make one last spell but I did not agree to it. There were Quesitori coming for her for some reason. That is what I remember."

"Yes that is who you are now...but you are more, you are many and yet you will live an entire life not knowing that, so will I. You may call me Petrus if you so desire, the names though son of fire are important, one day your friend here will think of this discussion and remember that fire meeting a rock makes glass." Arto said and glanced at Colin for a moment. "Well that is not important now, the important thing is for you to remember who else you are son of fire...for you must remember..."

"If you did not allow me to call you Petrus, why would assume it now, even if you are a memory? It would make me a poor keeper of your memory if I rewrote your name."

"Your will is your own Einje, if it where not so you would not be a magus. Yes there are tasks ahead of you that are hard and you can try to avoid them or just refuse and more suffering will result from that. But know that if you do not talk the dragon into kneeling by your feet so your allies can slay it then you, your friend here, that Criamon girl, your commander, everyone here will perish, it is your choice if you will stand by and let it happen. As for the stars I am not so sure they are to blame but the Gods, yours or mine have not been kind to you, not in this life or any other, perhaps you should decide to live son of fire until you get powerful enough to take that matter up with them."

"You know that is not what I meant. I am not trying to avoid it...whatever it is. It only seems to me that when there are only two roads made and they both lead to Rome...? What I feel in refusal is that there are only two ways to do a thing, not that something should be done." He then looked at Arto and laughed as he discussed the gods. "Oh yes? I do not know if that would be a wise thing to do, having acquired such power beyond my understanding, I hope to have better things to do than argue my mortal indignity with the gods." Then his smile faded. "What do you mean, decide to live? I am not dead. Enough of this chatter. I will fetch this pinecone and be done with this odd quest."

He pondered, "Fresh out of rope, I'm afraid... and the use of destructive force does not seem the right path. There is a saying, though, that even a dwarf can reach the highest fruit, if he stands on the shoulders of a giant. Asking for help is rarely wrong, as such..."

He gave a laugh, looking at Colin. "A dwarf I am not, nor are you a giant, but since you advise asking for help, would you assist me, please?"

"That is a morbid truth to learn, that refusing would only earn those a worse death or a worse life. I suppose a good executioner is better than an inept one," he sighed.

"Sometimes doing harm is the only way to prevent further harm, every soldier know that, the goal then is to choose the least amount of harm and pain."The Diedne said and nodded.

"By your wording, trying something outside the realm of these choices is refusal. Have we been cut down so far that there are only two choices left?

"Those are the only choices I can see, but you are not me, if you can find another path then perhaps you can break the cycle and do better than we have in the past or future."Arto said softly.

And then we go around this circle, again and again?" he asked. "And these others that pay the cost...it is not right." He sighed.

"And so we go around this circle again and again...unless you find the key to break free, but like I said in that I can not advice you."The druid said then he nodded."No others paying the cost, it is not right, not right at all."

"Very well, I'm climbing this tree," he said, as if the conversation had soured him. "I will pay the cost myself, whatever it is. Even if I didn't earn it. My amicus here tells me that our mission is worse than Diedne diablorists and that is why we do this now."

"We are not diabolists!...ah what is the point I will never be believed anyway."Arto said with an annoyed sigh."But yes the danger facing you are far worse than my House..."He said and there was a slight smile on his lips as if you had found part of the answer he was trying to lead you to in deciding to climb the tree.

"When it is necessary."

"How do you know when it is necessary?"

[quote]["The girl was in a white dress. She held out her hands for me to bind and asked how did I wish to have her hold them. She asked to make one last spell but I did not agree to it. There were Quesitori coming for her for some reason. That is what I remember."/quote]

"They where coming to rend her Gift with Guernicus' spell."Arto said a bit uneasy. And for a moment you remember the girl smiling at you, even if you at first had been aloof and distant from your...Covenant mates perhaps...you also remember her crying and reaching for you in desperation, the question was who she was. Beatrice...her name was Beatrice that you remember but not much else.

"If you did not allow me to call you Petrus, why would assume it now, even if you are a memory? It would make me a poor keeper of your memory if I rewrote your name."

"So you would be...well a stone is a stone I guess though I prefer the name I choose when I made it through my Gauntlet and was initiated."Arto said and nodded.

"You know that is not what I meant. I am not trying to avoid it...whatever it is. It only seems to me that when there are only two roads made and they both lead to Rome...? What I feel in refusal is that there are only two ways to do a thing, not that something should be done."

"Perhaps it is possible for you to forge your own path, I am only a memory of a stubborn man, I can only advice you so far, I can help you regain what you have lost and remember what must be done, then it will be your choice how to do it."Arto agreed and nodded.

He then looked at Arto and laughed as he discussed the gods. "Oh yes? I do not know if that would be a wise thing to do, having acquired such power beyond my understanding, I hope to have better things to do than argue my mortal indignity with the gods."

The Diedne grinned."Perhaps you will son of fire, perhaps you will."He seamed rather amused but he avoided laughing again.

Then his smile faded. "What do you mean, decide to live? I am not dead. Enough of this chatter. I will fetch this pinecone and be done with this odd quest."

"I am afraid that you Einje are as dead as I am, you got to live a little longer than me, but dead you are, but the man you are now are not dead, not yet but if you want him to stay alive well you need to regain your senses son of fire."Arto said then he grinned again."Good, enough talking indeed let us see how you solve this problem young man."

(OOC: Lol at the first comment in your post, Einje would make for a poor Nehandus he would fail Nephandi 101. )

(OOC 2: My cat is trying to step on the keyboard she want to play to. )

Udella nodded at that."Yes we have cuffs and other such restraints but they are hard to manufacture and expensive, there are restraining circles and enchanting a cell but that can not be moved, and off course directly holding someone from using magick but that require allot of concentration, the serum is easier than these but not really humane and if it is also dangerous for the captive well...it is not a good situation...I guess this makes you worry for your new apprentice? I wish I could help you there."

Colin nodded, "I would be sorely remiss in my duties, I think, if I did not worry for her... And as it happens, I have access to a gentlemen who is impressively strong and quick with locking down a Mage's power, though that has a shorter duration than the serum..."

"That is good to hear. I have only had Paradox and such happen to my Avatar but that is bad enough. It is no fun to be in pain."Allison said and gave you another smile.

He smiled thinly, touching his scars, "No, it isn't... but pain can be managed. You can get used to pain... get desensitized. And, of course, that which hurts can scab over, heal, and no longer hurt."

"Undo everything? Why? That seems a pointless endeavor," he said with a shake of his head.

He nodded, "For any person of sound mind, it is pointless. But they've allowed themselves to be corrupted, their reasoning distorted to the point where the world seems hopelessly rotten. They are willing to throw the baby out with the bathwater, because they no longer see the baby..."

You do think that if Einje stood on your shoulders he would be able to get to the lowest branch and from there it would be easy to climb and get a pine gone from the tree, and while tall your friend was slender, his armor might be an issue but the man himself you should be able to lift just fine.

He pondered, for a little moment.

He gave a laugh, looking at Colin. "A dwarf I am not, nor are you a giant, but since you advise asking for help, would you assist me, please?"

He grinned, folding his hands and stepping up to the tree, slightly crouched so that Einje could step up him like a ladder, "I thought you would never ask... a small favour to ask, though - your armour is an ungainly burden in this, might I convince you to relinquish it for the climb?"

((OOC: I dunno, Nephandi 101 is the class we WANT him to fail, as hard as possible. ))

Colin nodded, "I would be sorely remiss in my duties, I think, if I did not worry for her... And as it happens, I have access to a gentlemen who is impressively strong and quick with locking down a Mage's power, though that has a shorter duration than the serum..."

"Hum...do you think you could talk the Deacons of your Chantry into using this man's services to keep the girl's abilities contained until she can be trusted rather than the serum, it is sure to be allot less painful and traumatic for her and would probably make dealing with her phobia allot easier."Udella said and she frowned.

He smiled thinly, touching his scars, "No, it isn't... but pain can be managed. You can get used to pain... get desensitized. And, of course, that which hurts can scab over, heal, and no longer hurt."

Allison looked at your scars for a moment."Yeah I bet that hurt as well, whatever left those I mean."She said, she did not seam to have noticed them before, perhaps the one benefit to the Nephandi was that they where so used to seeing physical deformities your scars hardly ranked up there."I have never been hurt much, I mean scrapes during sparring and Paradox and I broke my leg once when I fell down a set of stairs, but not much...I know I do not like pain though I guess you are right one can get used to it."She muttered.

(OOC: When the two of you start the lifting and climbing endeavor please give me an Athletics roll for Adley and Strength for Colin, regular diff so 6.)

(OOC 2: We are sorry you are not fit to join the Nephandi, you may pet the Caul but not step into it. You suck at Nephanding )

"Hum...do you think you could talk the Deacons of your Chantry into using this man's services to keep the girl's abilities contained until she can be trusted rather than the serum, it is sure to be allot less painful and traumatic for her and would probably make dealing with her phobia allot easier."Udella said and she frowned.

Colin shrugged, "It might take some effort - we're not entirely in the chap's good graces."

Allison looked at your scars for a moment."Yeah I bet that hurt as well, whatever left those I mean."She said, she did not seam to have noticed them before, perhaps the one benefit to the Nephandi was that they where so used to seeing physical deformities your scars hardly ranked up there."I have never been hurt much, I mean scrapes during sparring and Paradox and I broke my leg once when I fell down a set of stairs, but not much...I know I do not like pain though I guess you are right one can get used to it."She muttered.

He shrugged, "I was mostly unconscious or anaesthetised back then... Surviving military rocketry to the face tends to land you in hospital pretty quickly..."

((OOC: Just Athletics for Adley? Just Strength for Colin? Those rolls seem to be missing something - but sure, here goes... 2,0. Well, one success, at least. ))

Colin shrugged, "It might take some effort - we're not entirely in the chap's good graces."

"Well it is worth looking into at least...I will also see what I can arrange, I am a Quesitor I might be able to get some restraints though my House, there are quite a few of my colleagues that owe me favors."

He shrugged, "I was mostly unconscious or anaesthetised back then... Surviving military rocketry to the face tends to land you in hospital pretty quickly..."

"You had a run in with a rocket? That sounds most unpleasant, yeah I guess if you try to headbutt a rocket chances are the rocket will win, even so ouch it is not something I would want to try."Allison said and raised and eyebrow.

(OOC: Oops what I meant was Dex plus Athletics for Adley and Strength plus Athletics for Colin but my brain decided not to work for a moment, sorry my bad.)

"Well it is worth looking into at least...I will also see what I can arrange, I am a Quesitor I might be able to get some restraints though my House, there are quite a few of my colleagues that owe me favors."

Colin smiled, "Thank you... I appreciate that."

"You had a run in with a rocket? That sounds most unpleasant, yeah I guess if you try to headbutt a rocket chances are the rocket will win, even so ouch it is not something I would want to try."Allison said and raised and eyebrow.

He grinned, "Indeed. As they say on the internet these days, one out of ten; would not try again."

((OOC: That makes more sense. Three more dice, then: 2,5,6. So TWO successes, not one. That's a bit better. ))

Udella nodded at that."It is no problem, and if that do not work I have a friend who are a Verditius, I can cover the cost of the enchantment for you and you can pay me back over time, however such an enchantment are not fast work, once the specifics are worked out it can take several months for a permanent enchantment to be manufactured, so let me first see if any such restraints that are already completed can be obtained."The old Enforcer offered."If that falls through I can also put out some feelers at the docks, see what I can obtain to make sure the child have to be on the serum for as sort a time as possible."

He grinned, "Indeed. As they say on the internet these days, one out of ten; would not try again."

"Yeah no I doubt anyone would want to do that twice, I mean I have heard of kinky but not quite that kinky."Allison said and grinned.

(OOC: Yeah that is allot better, sorry about the mistake at times my brain decide to be uncooperative. )

He nodded, "For any person of sound mind, it is pointless. But they've allowed themselves to be corrupted, their reasoning distorted to the point where the world seems hopelessly rotten. They are willing to throw the baby out with the bathwater, because they no longer see the baby..."

"Have they never been a parent before? Or known one? The world can be a terrible place sometimes, that is true but it also can be a beautiful one. They seem difficult enemies to engage, if their intent is unilateral destruction."

"Sometimes doing harm is the only way to prevent further harm, every soldier know that, the goal then is to choose the least amount of harm and pain."

"That is so," he agreed.

"Those are the only choices I can see, but you are not me, if you can find another path then perhaps you can break the cycle and do better than we have in the past or future."

"I do not understand how one can do better than their own future."

"We are not diabolists!...ah what is the point I will never be believed anyway." Arto said with an annoyed sigh.

"Perhaps not you specifically but you in aid of others, as a solider, doing your duty to them. Perhaps you did not know what was going on but my orders were not discriminate. If you were not diabolists, then...why else would we fight you?" He did not look like he wanted to be the person on what he might consider the 'wrong side' of the battle.

"How do you know when it is necessary?"

"That is a longer conversation than we may have time for now," he huffed. "There are many variables to consider and many that are out of our own hands."

"They where coming to rend her Gift with Guernicus' spell." Arto said a bit uneasy.

"Why would they do this thing to her, did she betray us?" He frowned, then turned to address Colin. "Beatrice. Her name, the girl in the dress. Do you know a Beatrice?"

"Perhaps it is possible for you to forge your own path, I am only a memory of a stubborn man, I can only advice you so far, I can help you regain what you have lost and remember what must be done, then it will be your choice how to do it."

"You are a stubborn man," he said as though it were at least sometimes a valuable trait. Perhaps because he was stubborn also.

"I am afraid that you Einje are as dead as I am, you got to live a little longer than me, but dead you are, but the man you are now are not dead, not yet but if you want him to stay alive well you need to regain your senses son of fire."

"I do not remember being dead," he told him with a wry look. "You said I was confused, all my senses seem to be about me. Yet I am talking with a memory, if what you say is true, then that is not the most sane action to take."

"Good, enough talking indeed let us see how you solve this problem young man."

"Old man? You are not so much older than I am."

He grinned, folding his hands and stepping up to the tree, slightly crouched so that Einje could step up him like a ladder, "I thought you would never ask... a small favour to ask, though - your armour is an ungainly burden in this, might I convince you to relinquish it for the climb?"

"Very well but mind my back once I am up there please. I do not wish to be struck down by enemies while so exposed," he said, as if he'd just been asked to strip naked. Given the amount of time he'd spent in that armor, it had become something of a second layer of his own skin. He began removing the leathers and armor, setting it carefully down so he could retrieve it all later and then put the crossbow down on top of it, as it would be an ungainly weapon while in a tree. Then he gave Colin an appreciative nod for the foot up and began to try to climb the tree.

// to quote the Tick, after being asked to blow up the earth: 'Egad. I hope not. That's where I keep all my stuff'

ooc2: 0, 2, 4, 5, 3 - well that's not the most auspicious start but one sux

"Perhaps son of fire, time is not what it seam."Arto said and smiled enigmatically.

"Perhaps not you specifically but you in aid of others, as a solider, doing your duty to them. Perhaps you did not know what was going on but my orders were not discriminate. If you were not diabolists, then...why else would we fight you?" He did not look like he wanted to be the person on what he might consider the 'wrong side' of the battle.

The Druid sigh and leaned his head against the trunk of the great tree behind him."My House is not diabolists Einje, but we never assimilated well into the Order, the other Germanic Houses they found their place, but we continued our own paths, and parts of that path is brutal, House Tremere where not lying when they claimed that Diedne had done human sacrifice, we have...I have not, well at least not of anyone who have not volunteered but I know it happens and it break the Code and puts the Order in danger I get that, but if you are going to condemn us then at least do so for a crime we have actually done!"Arto said angrily."Now as for why House Tremere declared war, simple they knew blood was needed to save the Order, you are not blind son of fire...you have seen the Houses drifting apart, no one really took the Quesitors much seriously anymore and we where headed right into the same put that Bonisagus dragged us out of where magi lived as scarred rats, holed up in one village or another alone or with an apprentice or two, the lucky ones might play pet mage to a noble, and the unlucky ones...well death is a rate sentence from te Curch who would rather pretend we don't exist but local mobs have done in more magi than Twilight...Tremere as the last living Founder knew something had to be done, the order needed an enemy to fight and defeat, and so he made a gamble, either way the Order would get blood and the power of House Guernicus would be shown. If his deceleration of war on us where met with approval the order would fight the Celtic "diabolists" into extinction and the Order would see House Guernicus sentence a whole House to death that should be enough to have the others fall in line while unity was secured through a war, and if Tremere's declaration was war was deemed unlawful a House would still be condemned, there would still be a unifying war, the power of the judges would still be shown in it's full terrifying glory only you would be out hunting politicians and necromancers instead of druids...this war is politics Einje...and it is a sacrifice it is ironic though we are being executed for making unwilling sacrifices of mundanes, and yet our own throats are being slit as blood sacrifice to the unity of the order."The Druid sigh and looked away."I just hope the other twelve Houses can manage to work together now, that all this death will have meant something."

"That is a longer conversation than we may have time for now," he huffed. "There are many variables to consider and many that are out of our own hands."

"True enough and yet this is the question that will weigh on your mind one day when you have to decide if your conscience are clear or tainted."

Why would they do this thing to her, did she betray us?" He frowned, then turned to address Colin. "Beatrice. Her name, the girl in the dress. Do you know a Beatrice?"

"Not as such she...did something horrible to save her brother and a lifetime later it have come back to haunt her as the innocent girl she is now."Arto said and frowned.

"You are a stubborn man," he said as though it were at least sometimes a valuable trait. Perhaps because he was stubborn also.

"Yes so I am son of fire, so I am."The Diedne said and smiled.

"I do not remember being dead," he told him with a wry look. "You said I was confused, all my senses seem to be about me. Yet I am talking with a memory, if what you say is true, then that is not the most sane action to take."

"No...you would not now would you, as for the virtue of sanity the Criamons tell us that is debatable, however you have to ask yourself what your senses are showing you...and if what you see are truth or illusion, or perhaps there is more than one truth Einje of the Flambeau, and you are just seeing one of them."

"Old man? You are not so much older than I am."

"Well age is relative, in one time I am a boy just barely old enough to be called a man and you are nearly twice my age...in other lifetimes...well in either case as we are now you are right, I could not be more than a handful of years older than you..."Arto said as he considered then he gave you a bit of a grin.

Then he gave Colin an appreciative nod for the foot up and began to try to climb the tree.

With Colin helping you reaching the lowest branch went well enough though it was not exactly elegant, but you got up. Carmon was always a better climber than you, he always seamed to be able to get to wherever he wanted when you where apprentices at the same Coventant together and he was never caught as he delivered your messages to the baker's son that you liked, however your father had started taking your on trade journeys from the time you where three, you had learned how to climb and soon you could see a nice, large pine cone cluster just an arms reach away from you, there was a feeling though that if you touched those cones something would happen, you stood before a choice, to reach out for the pine cones or not, to trust your senses in the here and now, or the advice from a friend and from an old enemy.

Udella nodded at that."It is no problem, and if that do not work I have a friend who are a Verditius, I can cover the cost of the enchantment for you and you can pay me back over time, however such an enchantment are not fast work, once the specifics are worked out it can take several months for a permanent enchantment to be manufactured, so let me first see if any such restraints that are already completed can be obtained."The old Enforcer offered."If that falls through I can also put out some feelers at the docks, see what I can obtain to make sure the child have to be on the serum for as sort a time as possible."

Colin smiled, "Or at the very least, see if one can space out the doses, so build-up and fear become... less of an issue for the interim."

"Yeah no I doubt anyone would want to do that twice, I mean I have heard of kinky but not quite that kinky."Allison said and grinned.

He frowned, "As it happens, I recently met a young woman of... most eccentric tastes, shall we say. Suffice to say, I'm glad that conversation was cut mercifully short... Ah, I digress..."

"Have they never been a parent before? Or known one? The world can be a terrible place sometimes, that is true but it also can be a beautiful one. They seem difficult enemies to engage, if their intent is unilateral destruction."

He shook his head, "If their intent was mere destruction, they would be a simpler foe... No, they seek to unmake it all, as though it never existed. They have the power of any Mage, and the cunning of the madman... In the centuries to come, the conflict with the Diedne will seem like a mild lovers' spat compared to the war on the horizon..."

The Druid sigh and leaned his head against the trunk of the great tree behind him."My House is not diabolists Einje, but we never assimilated well into the Order, the other Germanic Houses they found their place, but we continued our own paths, and parts of that path is brutal, House Tremere where not lying when they claimed that Diedne had done human sacrifice, we have...I have not, well at least not of anyone who have not volunteered but I know it happens and it break the Code and puts the Order in danger I get that, but if you are going to condemn us then at least do so for a crime we have actually done!"Arto said angrily."Now as for why House Tremere declared war, simple they knew blood was needed to save the Order, you are not blind son of fire...you have seen the Houses drifting apart, no one really took the Quesitors much seriously anymore and we where headed right into the same put that Bonisagus dragged us out of where magi lived as scarred rats, holed up in one village or another alone or with an apprentice or two, the lucky ones might play pet mage to a noble, and the unlucky ones...well death is a rate sentence from te Curch who would rather pretend we don't exist but local mobs have done in more magi than Twilight...Tremere as the last living Founder knew something had to be done, the order needed an enemy to fight and defeat, and so he made a gamble, either way the Order would get blood and the power of House Guernicus would be shown. If his deceleration of war on us where met with approval the order would fight the Celtic "diabolists" into extinction and the Order would see House Guernicus sentence a whole House to death that should be enough to have the others fall in line while unity was secured through a war, and if Tremere's declaration was war was deemed unlawful a House would still be condemned, there would still be a unifying war, the power of the judges would still be shown in it's full terrifying glory only you would be out hunting politicians and necromancers instead of druids...this war is politics Einje...and it is a sacrifice it is ironic though we are being executed for making unwilling sacrifices of mundanes, and yet our own throats are being slit as blood sacrifice to the unity of the order."The Druid sigh and looked away."I just hope the other twelve Houses can manage to work together now, that all this death will have meant something."

He scratched his head; there was something in the druid's words, "He... speaks truly, amicus. It is around this time that Tremere has fallen to desperation and brought about the fall of his entire House. It is what Carmon was swept up in, what the good lady Crexia avoided due to her... changed nature... It would have been my fate, too, but for an odd twist of Fate, it seems..."

"Why would they do this thing to her, did she betray us?" He frowned, then turned to address Colin. "Beatrice. Her name, the girl in the dress. Do you know a Beatrice?"

"Not as such she...did something horrible to save her brother and a lifetime later it have come back to haunt her as the innocent girl she is now."Arto said and frowned.

He thought for a moment, "Beatrice, yes... In other lives, your sister, but not always... but ever together, and we need a gift from her to save her... You must remember it."

"Well age is relative, in one time I am a boy just barely old enough to be called a man and you are nearly twice my age...in other lifetimes...well in either case as we are now you are right, I could not be more than a handful of years older than you..."Arto said as he considered then he gave you a bit of a grin.

He frowned, trying to pin down the face he half-remembered, trying to put names to the offered kindness and the person needing that comfort... "I know who you will be, Arto... We've met... you will be a comfort to... someone important to me, though things have taken a dark turn for you both... You need him to make the right choice here as much as I do..."

"Very well but mind my back once I am up there please. I do not wish to be struck down by enemies while so exposed," he said, as if he'd just been asked to strip naked. Given the amount of time he'd spent in that armor, it had become something of a second layer of his own skin. He began removing the leathers and armor, setting it carefully down so he could retrieve it all later and then put the crossbow down on top of it, as it would be an ungainly weapon while in a tree. Then he gave Colin an appreciative nod for the foot up and began to try to climb the tree.

He glanced at the stacked-up armor, then nodded and boosted Einje upwards with a soft grunt, looking up as he clambered up the branches, and he muttered softly, "Choose wisely, amicus... the world rests on your shoulders, more than you realize..."

He shook his head, "If their intent was mere destruction, they would be a simpler foe... No, they seek to unmake it all, as though it never existed. They have the power of any Mage, and the cunning of the madman... In the centuries to come, the conflict with the Diedne will seem like a mild lovers' spat compared to the war on the horizon..."

"That is not possible. They are not God," he said. "They may be powerful but what you are speaking about is beyond even the reach of the greatest magii," he said. "Even if it were so, I still do not see why anyone would do such a thing. Perhaps that for the good. As you said, it is a kind of madness."

The Druid sigh and leaned his head against the trunk of the great tree behind him. "My House is not diabolists Einje, but we never assimilated well into the Order, the other Germanic Houses they found their place, but we continued our own paths, and parts of that path is brutal, House Tremere where not lying when they claimed that Diedne had done human sacrifice, we have...I have not, well at least not of anyone who have not volunteered but I know it happens and it break the Code and puts the Order in danger I get that, but if you are going to condemn us then at least do so for a crime we have actually done!" Arto said angrily...this war is politics Einje...and it is a sacrifice it is ironic though we are being executed for making unwilling sacrifices of mundanes, and yet our own throats are being slit as blood sacrifice to the unity of the order." The Druid sigh and looked away. "I just hope the other twelve Houses can manage to work together now, that all this death will have meant something."

He scratched his head; there was something in the druid's words, "He... speaks truly, amicus. It is around this time that Tremere has fallen to desperation and brought about the fall of his entire House. It is what Carmon was swept up in, what the good lady Crexia avoided due to her... changed nature... It would have been my fate, too, but for an odd twist of Fate, it seems..."

He glanced back the way they came. Where the Commander was and the rest of the troop, a v-shape of consternation between his brows. "Political war...they could have used the truth of it. I do not understand why they degraded you to dabbling with devils and evil creatures. And then after that, the Tremere...this fall. Carmon lost his Gift, that is what Commander Crexia said. That is why he is back at the covenant and not with us? All that I can give him now is death." He frowned and said to Colin after a moment, "I am glad you escaped."

"True enough and yet this is the question that will weigh on your mind one day when you have to decide if your conscience are clear or tainted."

"Perhaps. My conscience is clear right now. If it is always clear and always now, then I will have nothing to fear."

"Not as such she...did something horrible to save her brother and a lifetime later it have come back to haunt her as the innocent girl she is now." Arto said and frowned.

He thought for a moment, "Beatrice, yes... In other lives, your sister, but not always... but ever together, and we need a gift from her to save her... You must remember it."

"Held responsible for something done in another life...my sometimes sister..." He stood a moment putting all of Artu's words together, back to front, grabbing what he said before and holding it up against what Colin said.

"No...you would not now would you, as for the virtue of sanity the Criamons tell us that is debatable, however you have to ask yourself what your senses are showing you...and if what you see are truth or illusion, or perhaps there is more than one truth Einje of the Flambeau, and you are just seeing one of them."

"The latter is likely, there is more than one way to see even the same thing, so why should there not be more than I am seeing now?"

"Well age is relative, in one time I am a boy just barely old enough to be called a man and you are nearly twice my age...in other lifetimes...well in either case as we are now you are right, I could not be more than a handful of years older than you..."

"This old man will show you how to climb a tree."

He glanced at the stacked-up armor, then nodded and boosted Einje upwards with a soft grunt, looking up as he clambered up the branches, and he muttered softly, "Choose wisely, amicus... the world rests on your shoulders, more than you realize..."

"Right now I'm resting on your shoulders, so do not drop me," he said with a smile as he took hold of one of the branches and pulled himself up close to the trunk. The world smelled of pine all around him. He kept climbing upwards, until he started to see the clumps of pinecones. "I see some here, is there a specific one? You said it was a gift from Beatrice..." Einje's voice floated down from above as he scrutinized the pinecones around him, to see if there was any specific one that he should take down the tree right now with him. Maybe one of them was more ripe. Was that the right word for pinecones? Ripe? In the sun, surrounded by the clean pine smell, he reached out a hand towards the pinecones to take one from the branch.

Colin smiled, "Or at the very least, see if one can space out the doses, so build-up and fear become... less of an issue for the interim."

"As far as I know one cannot do that, ca 24 hours after a dose is given the mage in question regain their abilities."Udella said and frowned.

He frowned, "As it happens, I recently met a young woman of... most eccentric tastes, shall we say. Suffice to say, I'm glad that conversation was cut mercifully short... Ah, I digress..."

Allison raised an eyebrow at that."Young woman of eccentric taste...my my...do I dare to ask who that was?"She asked.

He frowned, trying to pin down the face he half-remembered, trying to put names to the offered kindness and the person needing that comfort... "I know who you will be, Arto... We've met... you will be a comfort to... someone important to me, though things have taken a dark turn for you both... You need him to make the right choice here as much as I do..."

Arto nodded slightly."Yes we both need that choice to be right."He said."I do not know all the details,only that in one of my lives between then and now I will step wrong and the boy I will later be will suffer for it, poor child, but that he is able to comfort others do please me, perhaps he is not all lost."

He glanced back the way they came. Where the Commander was and the rest of the troop, a v-shape of consternation between his brows. "Political war...they could have used the truth of it. I do not understand why they degraded you to dabbling with devils and evil creatures. And then after that, the Tremere...this fall. Carmon lost his Gift, that is what Commander Crexia said. That is why he is back at the covenant and not with us? All that I can give him now is death." He frowned and said to Colin after a moment, "I am glad you escaped."

"When you are going to make someone an enemy to bring your allies together, that enemy need to be hated, just clearing out those who would sacrifice a mundane now and again would not do that, it is not like there are no non Diedne magi who have done the same in the cover of night, but making us deiabolists now that gets the blood boiling, then we can be hated. Your friend here knows...he knows the power of being that hated enemy, and the cost of it..."Arto said then he looked down and nodded."House Tremere...is lost and Carmon with it. He have lost his Gift and the one you will be in the the future, the one you are son of fire...when you meet him again the mercy of death have been a long time coming and he have lived for a thousand years with the pain of that loss. I regret to say so for the man was kind, but my suffering is insignificant compared to what he have endured...and ending that suffering is one more reason why you must remember and must return."The Druid said sadly.

Perhaps. My conscience is clear right now. If it is always clear and always now, then I will have nothing to fear."

"Very well, as you wish just remember this conversation if ever you risk your conscience not being clear."He said and nodded again.

"Held responsible for something done in another life...my sometimes sister..." He stood a moment putting all of Artu's words together, back to front, grabbing what he said before and holding it up against what Colin said.

"Yes, the girl you know is innocent, but crime might be done in another life. It is hard for you to understand now, the Church say we all end up in heaven or hell, and a few think that we magi will wander the land of summer that the fay folk go to when they die as we are neither sinners nor saints, and right now that is true. You and I Einje, the people we are have gone to our afterlives, the realm of the honored dead fay for me and for you either that or the afterlife believed in by your father's people, but a small speck of us, a most important small speck have gone on to guide others with what we have experienced in our lives and it is for this speck that your sister is being judged."

"The latter is likely, there is more than one way to see even the same thing, so why should there not be more than I am seeing now?"

"True...the question is if you are able to glimpse that which are beyond what you now can see, if you can glimpse it and make sense of it."

"This old man will show you how to climb a tree."

"I see well I do find climbing trees to be somewhat hard at the moment but sure you show me how Einje."Arto said and lifted his hands again and immediately regretted it and winced."I was never much for climbing trees anyway, I prefer sitting under them and drinking ale."He grumbled as he gently placed his broken hands back into his lap."Don't fall down on me!"

"I see some here, is there a specific one? You said it was a gift from Beatrice..." Einje's voice floated down from above as he scrutinized the pinecones around him, to see if there was any specific one that he should take down the tree right now with him. Maybe one of them was more ripe. Was that the right word for pinecones? Ripe? In the sun, surrounded by the clean pine smell, he reached out a hand towards the pinecones to take one from the branch.

As your hand reached the pine cone you had chosen there was a sensation of cleanses, of perfection and clarity of purpose. In between the trees you saw two creatures and they where beautiful...perfect. One was a forest god, he appeared like an old man with mighty wings, in his hand he held a lantern and pine cones grew out of his hair, the forest god was old and tired though, he was a god of what had been, a god of death. Beside him stood a angle in red, she had a sword of fire and wore a fine armor of copper and gold, her flame burned in the forest god's lantern as he took one of the cones from his head and planted it in the ground. The warrior angle took her sword and slit the forest god's throat and blood gushed forward, watering the cone with his willing sacrifice as he crumbled to the ground and became fresh dirt on the ground. The angle wept and then she waited until a new pine tree grew, a perfect image of new creation, a new forest god to replace the old, and she tended the young tree and walked with the god it would be and then when time came sacrificed him for a new tree to grow in a perfect circle...only now that circle was broken...the forest god had lost his way and no new trees would grow, he would no longer plant a pine cone, or a nut or a seed and become new, he was destruction now...and the angle wept, though he still kept her lantern with him, and that small pure light might still lead him back to the right path.

You had not noticed that you had fallen out of the tree, all you knew is that you where on the ground, on your back, the pine cone in your hand and you remembered. You remembered Beatrice your Cabalmate...your sister, she who where both the Red Woman, and Claire and now your young friend. You remembered Colin...and your Mentor and you remembered Matty Carlyle who needed to see that pine cone, perhaps that could stop her. You remember failing a spell, the pain of Paradox and you remember being in a Quiet, trapped in a former life, that you where not Einje but Adley however even so tasks remained for you to do.

Slowly the great pine split and between the two parts of the trunk there was a portal."Do you remember now son of fire?"Arto asked softly."Do you remember what you must do?"

"As far as I know one cannot do that, ca 24 hours after a dose is given the mage in question regain their abilities."Udella said and frowned.

Colin nodded, "True, the dose lasts for 24 hours, but supplemented with, say, a skilled mage who can place a lock on a Mage's power until sunrise or sunset, and the Mage could perhaps get closer to a day and a half instead... that would allow spacing out the doses a little..."

Allison raised an eyebrow at that."Young woman of eccentric taste...my my...do I dare to ask who that was?"She asked.

He shook his head, "You might dare, but I would feel most guilty if you were to seek her out and find her to be less to your liking than you might be to hers... Humans are always so eager to poke the hornet's nest, and I'd rather not have that on my conscience, as well..."

Arto nodded slightly."Yes we both need that choice to be right."He said."I do not know all the details,only that in one of my lives between then and now I will step wrong and the boy I will later be will suffer for it, poor child, but that he is able to comfort others do please me, perhaps he is not all lost."

He nodded, "Parental influence is a good thing, and yours... will be devoted."He frowned, "Or at least, that's the one thing I seem to remember of how you came to us - your parents were fighting for you, desperately..."

"That is not possible. They are not God," he said. "They may be powerful but what you are speaking about is beyond even the reach of the greatest magii," he said. "Even if it were so, I still do not see why anyone would do such a thing. Perhaps that for the good. As you said, it is a kind of madness."

He nodded, "We are Magi - the impossible only takes more time... for good or ill. Left to work undisturbed for a few hundred years, you would be astonished at what a circle of Magi could do..."

He glanced back the way they came. Where the Commander was and the rest of the troop, a v-shape of consternation between his brows. "Political war...they could have used the truth of it. I do not understand why they degraded you to dabbling with devils and evil creatures. And then after that, the Tremere...this fall. Carmon lost his Gift, that is what Commander Crexia said. That is why he is back at the covenant and not with us? All that I can give him now is death." He frowned and said to Colin after a moment, "I am glad you escaped."

"When you are going to make someone an enemy to bring your allies together, that enemy need to be hated, just clearing out those who would sacrifice a mundane now and again would not do that, it is not like there are no non Diedne magi who have done the same in the cover of night, but making us deiabolists now that gets the blood boiling, then we can be hated. Your friend here knows...he knows the power of being that hated enemy, and the cost of it..."Arto said then he looked down and nodded.

He nodded and replied bitterly, "I know, with the dreadful accuracy of hindsight, that rallying around a common enemy is not... the right way to do it. It just doesn't last, and the price is still paid as though it would... First, a war on the Diedne, then a war on the Tremere, then when an outside enemy rises in power, I betray all I hold dear to reveal the danger of that enemy... and it barely works at all; if not for the Guernicus who advocates for me, all would be lost anyway, likely as not..."

"Right now I'm resting on your shoulders, so do not drop me," he said with a smile as he took hold of one of the branches and pulled himself up close to the trunk. The world smelled of pine all around him. He kept climbing upwards, until he started to see the clumps of pinecones. "I see some here, is there a specific one? You said it was a gift from Beatrice..." Einje's voice floated down from above as he scrutinized the pinecones around him, to see if there was any specific one that he should take down the tree right now with him. Maybe one of them was more ripe. Was that the right word for pinecones? Ripe? In the sun, surrounded by the clean pine smell, he reached out a hand towards the pinecones to take one from the branch.

He grinned up, steady on his feet, "I hold, fear not. And a specific one? Perhaps it is, but you are better situated to see that than am I."

You had not noticed that you had fallen out of the tree, all you knew is that you where on the ground, on your back, the pine cone in your hand and you remembered. You remembered Beatrice your Cabalmate...your sister, she who where both the Red Woman, and Claire and now your young friend. You remembered Colin...and your Mentor and you remembered Matty Carlyle who needed to see that pine cone, perhaps that could stop her. You remember failing a spell, the pain of Paradox and you remember being in a Quiet, trapped in a former life, that you where not Einje but Adley however even so tasks remained for you to do.

Slowly the great pine split and between the two parts of the trunk there was a portal."Do you remember now son of fire?"Arto asked softly."Do you remember what you must do?"

He stepped over to Adley and extended a hand to help him up, "Ready to go, then?"

Colin nodded, "True, the dose lasts for 24 hours, but supplemented with, say, a skilled mage who can place a lock on a Mage's power until sunrise or sunset, and the Mage could perhaps get closer to a day and a half instead... that would allow spacing out the doses a little..."

"It is possible if you fight someone who are willing to let you experiment on them to find out what you might be able to do with the serum. It will be harder to keep track of when to give those doses then if you can stretch it a few more hours before having to give the next dose."Udella said and nodded.

He shook his head, "You might dare, but I would feel most guilty if you were to seek her out and find her to be less to your liking than you might be to hers... Humans are always so eager to poke the hornet's nest, and I'd rather not have that on my conscience, as well..."

"I am not seeking anyone out, what what someone do in their spare time is not my business I just got curious, but I am not going to press for an answer."Allison said with a wry grin.

He nodded, "Parental influence is a good thing, and yours... will be devoted."He frowned, "Or at least, that's the one thing I seem to remember of how you came to us - your parents were fighting for you, desperately..."

"Hum...interesting my vulgar parents? Well that is good, perhaps it will give the boy I will be a chance to develop into a good man."Arto said and nodded approvingly.

He nodded and replied bitterly, "I know, with the dreadful accuracy of hindsight, that rallying around a common enemy is not... the right way to do it. It just doesn't last, and the price is still paid as though it would... First, a war on the Diedne, then a war on the Tremere, then when an outside enemy rises in power, I betray all I hold dear to reveal the danger of that enemy... and it barely works at all; if not for the Guernicus who advocates for me, all would be lost anyway, likely as not..."

"No such an unity never lasts...and it is hollow though I guess it would also have been a problem if the Order had fallen...if the organization it will once be a part of and that you will try to save had fallen but the cost...the cost to such sacrifice is just to great."The Druid said and shook his head sadly."No we need other ways to bind ourselves together than hate, for that will only last for so long."

He nodded, "We are Magi - the impossible only takes more time... for good or ill. Left to work undisturbed for a few hundred years, you would be astonished at what a circle of Magi could do..."

"I am not naive enough to think we have abolished war, in fact it seems quite the opposite. Battles have become even more necessary than before."

"When you are going to make someone an enemy to bring your allies together, that enemy need to be hated, just clearing out those who would sacrifice a mundane now and again would not do that, it is not like there are no non Diedne magi who have done the same in the cover of night, but making us deiabolists now that gets the blood boiling, then we can be hated. Your friend here knows...he knows the power of being that hated enemy, and the cost of it..."

He nodded and replied bitterly, "I know, with the dreadful accuracy of hindsight, that rallying around a common enemy is not... the right way to do it. It just doesn't last, and the price is still paid as though it would... First, a war on the Diedne, then a war on the Tremere, then when an outside enemy rises in power, I betray all I hold dear to reveal the danger of that enemy... and it barely works at all; if not for the Guernicus who advocates for me, all would be lost anyway, likely as not..."

"War against the Tremere?" He thought about it. "If one House can be used so, then another can..."

"House Tremere...is lost and Carmon with it. He have lost his Gift and the one you will be in the the future, the one you are son of fire...when you meet him again the mercy of death have been a long time coming and he have lived for a thousand years with the pain of that loss. I regret to say so for the man was kind, but my suffering is insignificant compared to what he have endured...and ending that suffering is one more reason why you must remember and must return."

"There is so much..." He sounded confused. "He should not have to suffer. He is a good man."

"Very well, as you wish just remember this conversation if ever you risk your conscience not being clear."He said and nodded again.

"I will try, but as you say I am confused right now."

"Yes, the girl you know is innocent, but crime might be done in another life. It is hard for you to understand now, the Church say we all end up in heaven or hell, and a few think that we magi will wander the land of summer that the fay folk go to when they die as we are neither sinners nor saints, and right now that is true. You and I Einje, the people we are have gone to our afterlives, the realm of the honored dead fay for me and for you either that or the afterlife believed in by your father's people, but a small speck of us, a most important small speck have gone on to guide others with what we have experienced in our lives and it is for this speck that your sister is being judged."

"That is a very strange belief."

"I see well I do find climbing trees to be somewhat hard at the moment but sure you show me how Einje."Arto said and lifted his hands again and immediately regretted it and winced."I was never much for climbing trees anyway, I prefer sitting under them and drinking ale."He grumbled as he gently placed his broken hands back into his lap."Don't fall down on me!"

"I know you are just a memory, or at least that is what you say you are. Still, I am sorry for what I had to do to your hands. To you. I will not fall on you," he said.

You had not noticed that you had fallen out of the tree, all you knew is that you where on the ground, on your back, the pine cone in your hand and you remembered. Slowly the great pine split and between the two parts of the trunk there was a portal."Do you remember now son of fire?" Arto asked softly. "Do you remember what you must do?"

He stepped over to Adley and extended a hand to help him up, "Ready to go, then?

"Colin!" he said as he saw him, and took the offered hand. He looked fairly boggled, then held out the pinecone. "Because it is so hard to prick oneself...the blood. I have to...because she can't plant it anymore, we have to plant it and water it. We're going to show it to Matty? And one person will be confused. Hah, I did not think that person would be me. Oh...no, I went into quietus..." He looked at Arto and then Colin, horrified. "On the battlefield...we're still there...in the damn Labyrinth. We have to get back...you...how are you here? Are you a memory too?" he asked Colin. He let go of his hand and looked to the portal. "If you're real, you're going to come with me..."

"War against the Tremere?" He thought about it. "If one House can be used so, then another can..."

"Yes there will be a war, but...not like this one, there will be a tragedy like no other the Order have ever known, so many will be lost forever...I used to hate the Tremere for what they had done to my House, but I can hate no longer, all I can feel for them now is pity."Arto said sadly and a tear rolled down his pale cheek."And there is nothing that can be done for them, their path to destruction is already set...however the war against House Tremere was not due to sacrifice it was due to arrogance and desperation, two rather dangerous things in combination...the betrayal your friend speak of though was a sacrifice, a horrible one but a sacrifice non the less."

"There is so much..." He sounded confused. "He should not have to suffer. He is a good man."

"No he should not have to suffer, but he have and now the heavy duty of ending that suffering falls to you son of fire."The Druid said then he nodded."And yes he is a good man, but sometimes horrible things happen to good men unfortunately."

"I will try, but as you say I am confused right now."

The Diedne nodded."So you are son of fire, so you are, but I have a feeling you will remember my words non the less."

"That is a very strange belief."

"I guess you are right, to you as you are now, it is a most strange belief indeed."

"I know you are just a memory, or at least that is what you say you are. Still, I am sorry for what I had to do to your hands. To you. I will not fall on you," he said.

Arto looked down at his hands and sigh."The cost of war eh...for what it is worth I am sorry I in another life will be decapitating you."He said then he looked up at you."Can you do me one favor Einje? The boy I will one day be...trauma like this tend to be remembered...in some way."He said and slightly moved his hands to indicate them and he took a sharp intake of breath as he did so."This will sound strange to you as you are now, but just keep it in mind it will make sense eventually. That boy enjoys playing these ridiculous games run by lightening on paintings and tablets with moving pictures, when his hands begin to ache, he will not know why but they do sometimes, make sure he take a break from those games and let his fingers rest...that ache is just an old memory from his soul but there is no need to aggravate it."The Druid said with a small smile then he added."Oh and the boy will like to eat this dreadful food, quick meals from street vendors only it is foul...do not let him have to much of it...he will protest but it is not good for him, do me these two favors will you son of fire."He asked with a kind smile."The child will need someone looking out for him. And I appreciate you not falling on me."

He looked at Arto and then Colin, horrified. "On the battlefield...we're still there...in the damn Labyrinth. We have to get back...you...how are you here? Are you a memory too?" he asked Colin. He let go of his hand and looked to the portal. "If you're real, you're going to come with me..."

"Hurry Craftsman, take the son of fire back to his senses...there are tasks still to be done...and while you light the candles you have promised, you seam to have a list of them now...could you add one for Arto filius Derra ex Diedne and Einje gilius Mallander ex Flambeau...we lived long ago, but even those who have been dead for a long time needs to be remembered."Arto said and smiled to Colin for a moment then he nodded to the portal."Hurry go...while there is still time for you to save yourself, and that hell scorned bastard Crexia, and the rest of your group...go..."

"It is possible if you fight someone who are willing to let you experiment on them to find out what you might be able to do with the serum. It will be harder to keep track of when to give those doses then if you can stretch it a few more hours before having to give the next dose."Udella said and nodded.

Colin shrugged, "Much experimentation with the serum itself might not be necessary... Locking down my apprentice for a few hours without using the serum may well be viable, although you are correct in that it will make it a bit trickier to get the timing absolutely right..."

"I am not seeking anyone out, what what someone do in their spare time is not my business I just got curious, but I am not going to press for an answer."Allison said with a wry grin.

He smiled wryly, "Temptation is a fickle thing, child. If you dig further, it won't be on my conscience, but I would rather you didn't chance it at all."

"Hum...interesting my vulgar parents? Well that is good, perhaps it will give the boy I will be a chance to develop into a good man."Arto said and nodded approvingly.

He nodded, "He will have an excellent teacher, and the best chances he could ask for. Even if, perhaps, he won't outright ask for them..."

"No such an unity never lasts...and it is hollow though I guess it would also have been a problem if the Order had fallen...if the organization it will once be a part of and that you will try to save had fallen but the cost...the cost to such sacrifice is just to great."The Druid said and shook his head sadly."No we need other ways to bind ourselves together than hate, for that will only last for so long."

He sighed, "The third crisis, I think, is imminent. Hopefully, we can manage to hold together without such horrible means."

"I am not naive enough to think we have abolished war, in fact it seems quite the opposite. Battles have become even more necessary than before."

He shook his head, "War is human nature... we will always wage war, in one way or another. But left unattended, a few brilliant minds could find ways to do incredible things - great artifacts that not only fly, but fly in a way those without magic can learn to build and operate, and carry hundreds of people vast distances... as a modest example."

"War against the Tremere?" He thought about it. "If one House can be used so, then another can..."

"Yes there will be a war, but...not like this one, there will be a tragedy like no other the Order have ever known, so many will be lost forever...I used to hate the Tremere for what they had done to my House, but I can hate no longer, all I can feel for them now is pity."Arto said sadly and a tear rolled down his pale cheek."And there is nothing that can be done for them, their path to destruction is already set...however the war against House Tremere was not due to sacrifice it was due to arrogance and desperation, two rather dangerous things in combination...the betrayal your friend speak of though was a sacrifice, a horrible one but a sacrifice non the less."

He nodded, "The Fall of Tremere was brought on from within, not without... Tremere betrayed himself, his House and the Order, and for that, the fury of the Order descends... My sacrifice, though, was still wrong, and I should have searched more for a different option... I should have arranged for my own capture, perhaps, and let the Cabal find me and see what had been done, instead of having it done to... them..."

"Colin!" he said as he saw him, and took the offered hand. He looked fairly boggled, then held out the pinecone. "Because it is so hard to prick oneself...the blood. I have to...because she can't plant it anymore, we have to plant it and water it. We're going to show it to Matty? And one person will be confused. Hah, I did not think that person would be me. Oh...no, I went into quietus..." He looked at Arto and then Colin, horrified. "On the battlefield...we're still there...in the damn Labyrinth. We have to get back...you...how are you here? Are you a memory too?" he asked Colin. He let go of his hand and looked to the portal. "If you're real, you're going to come with me..."

"Hurry Craftsman, take the son of fire back to his senses...there are tasks still to be done...and while you light the candles you have promised, you seam to have a list of them now...could you add one for Arto filius Derra ex Diedne and Einje gilius Mallander ex Flambeau...we lived long ago, but even those who have been dead for a long time needs to be remembered."Arto said and smiled to Colin for a moment then he nodded to the portal."Hurry go...while there is still time for you to save yourself, and that hell scorned bastard Crexia, and the rest of your group...go..."

He grinned and helped Adley to his feet, "Damn glad you're back, son... Your Latin becomes very archaic when you're not yourself... I'm not a memory - not just yet - but everything here was, after a fashion; past meeting the future in an impractical mix-up. Master Adimari helped me get in to try to retrieve you, because I think we need you to use the cone - not so much plant it, perhaps, as to light it up as a beacon of hope. But we have to move; the battle rages, and we must get miss Carlyle before we rush in to take Abigail..."He looked over at Arto with a nod, "Arto and Einje, it shall be done. I wonder, though, how the hell do you know all the things you rather ought not know about me, Kyle?"He shook his head, and started dragging Adley toward the portal, "No matter, let's hurry."

Colin shrugged, "Much experimentation with the serum itself might not be necessary... Locking down my apprentice for a few hours without using the serum may well be viable, although you are correct in that it will make it a bit trickier to get the timing absolutely right..."

"You would then have to let your apprentice use her magick then to know exactly when the serum stopped working and doing this a few times across several days to see if you could extend that period and then you would not only have to let her use magick to see that she had gotten her powers back, if she is as terrified of needles as you say she would be fighting against whoever was restraining her powers as it was happening tooth and nail, and this is a counterspeller we are talking about, a good one...this will not be safe to do on an unwilling subject."Udella warned and frowned.

He smiled wryly, "Temptation is a fickle thing, child. If you dig further, it won't be on my conscience, but I would rather you didn't chance it at all."

"Hum...you are probably right and I will be quite busy fighting for my life for the foreseeable future it seams so just forget me asking."Allison said and shrugged.

He nodded, "He will have an excellent teacher, and the best chances he could ask for. Even if, perhaps, he won't outright ask for them..."

"Good, perhaps there is hope for the boy then."Arto said with a slight smile.

He sighed, "The third crisis, I think, is imminent. Hopefully, we can manage to hold together without such horrible means."

"Hopefully yes such means can be avoided, and you are correct a crisis is coming, though the scale of it that I do not know."

He nodded, "The Fall of Tremere was brought on from within, not without... Tremere betrayed himself, his House and the Order, and for that, the fury of the Order descends... My sacrifice, though, was still wrong, and I should have searched more for a different option... I should have arranged for my own capture, perhaps, and let the Cabal find me and see what had been done, instead of having it done to... them..."

"Yes perhaps you should have, but there is no changing that now and the young war council did stay together though you made a sacrifice that was not yours to make. a horrible thing, but we have all made our mistakes, all you can do now Craftsman is find a new way to move forward."Arto said softly he looked at you and sigh."Yes Tremere betrayed himself, he got arrogant and careless, he believed himself as good a necromancer as his mater, instead he doomed his House and so many souls still scream in pain over the result of that mistake, but perhaps that House to one day can be reclaimed, perhaps it can one day be renewed I am not sure if I want that for them, I still feel bitterness for the loss of my own House, but it could happen."

He looked over at Arto with a nod, "Arto and Einje, it shall be done. I wonder, though, how the hell do you know all the things you rather ought not know about me, Kyle?"

"No...your battle brother here, after all I am just a memory, a part of a madness created by his own soul to protect him, and time do not flow in a straight line, all he know about you now and will ever know, I know as well, and thank you Craftsman for your kindness...be well, the both of you."Arto said and smiled softly."As for Kyle...yes some of my knowledge is from him but his future is in flux...if he makes it I might have more future memories from a boy with hair as red as my own...now go your time grows ever shorter."He urged and nodded towards the portal again.

He shook his head, "War is human nature... we will always wage war, in one way or another. But left unattended, a few brilliant minds could find ways to do incredible things - great artifacts that not only fly, but fly in a way those without magic can learn to build and operate, and carry hundreds of people vast distances... as a modest example."

"Why would we need such an artifact when we can make a portal, use a gate or traverse the Umbra? For the same reason we still use horses, I suspect," he said. "Ah...those without magic can use them." He tilted his head at Colin. "Then if we can do these wonderous things, make artifacts like that for all to use without disclosing our magic, surely these brilliant minds can stop these would be world-enders."

"Yes there will be a war, but...not like this one, there will be a tragedy like no other the Order have ever known, so many will be lost forever...I used to hate the Tremere for what they had done to my House, but I can hate no longer, all I can feel for them now is pity." Arto said sadly and a tear rolled down his pale cheek. "And there is nothing that can be done for them, their path to destruction is already set...however the war against House Tremere was not due to sacrifice it was due to arrogance and desperation, two rather dangerous things in combination...the betrayal your friend speak of though was a sacrifice, a horrible one but a sacrifice non the less."

He nodded, "The Fall of Tremere was brought on from within, not without... Tremere betrayed himself, his House and the Order, and for that, the fury of the Order descends... My sacrifice, though, was still wrong, and I should have searched more for a different option... I should have arranged for my own capture, perhaps, and let the Cabal find me and see what had been done, instead of having it done to... them..."

"Arrogance and desperation...what of hope? I do not know what you speak of," he added, looking at Colin. "Are you sure your sacrifice was wrong? How does one even know such a thing...perhaps all these other battles were just practice for this one."

"No he should not have to suffer, but he have and now the heavy duty of ending that suffering falls to you son of fire." The Druid said then he nodded. "And yes he is a good man, but sometimes horrible things happen to good men unfortunately."

"Perhaps when I speak with the gods that would be my main complaint...horrible things happen to good people."

he Diedne nodded. "So you are son of fire, so you are, but I have a feeling you will remember my words non the less."

"Are you son of the earth then, if your name is rock?"

Arto looked down at his hands and sigh. "The cost of war eh...for what it is worth I am sorry I in another life will be decapitating you."He said then he looked up at you.

"After what you said, perhaps I should be thanking you for doing it right," he said in a wry tone.

"Can you do me one favor Einje? The boy I will one day be...trauma like this tend to be remembered...in some way." He said and slightly moved his hands to indicate them and he took a sharp intake of breath as he did so. "This will sound strange to you as you are now, but just keep it in mind it will make sense eventually. That boy enjoys playing these ridiculous games run by lightening on paintings and tablets with moving pictures, when his hands begin to ache, he will not know why but they do sometimes, make sure he take a break from those games and let his fingers rest...that ache is just an old memory from his soul but there is no need to aggravate it."

"Run by lightning?" That pictures could move was less an issue to him, magick could do many things, some strange and impractical. But lightning...he skipped over the parts that made no sense and tried to remember the important parts instead. "Take a break from games, check to see if his hands hurt him. This I can do."

"Oh and the boy will like to eat this dreadful food, quick meals from street vendors only it is foul...do not let him have to much of it...he will protest but it is not good for him, do me these two favors will you son of fire." He asked with a kind smile. "The child will need someone looking out for him. And I appreciate you not falling on me."

"I will try. That sounds worse than molded field rations." He made a face.

He grinned and helped Adley to his feet, "Damn glad you're back, son... Your Latin becomes very archaic when you're not yourself... I'm not a memory - not just yet - but everything here was, after a fashion; past meeting the future in an impractical mix-up. Master Adimari helped me get in to try to retrieve you, because I think we need you to use the cone - not so much plant it, perhaps, as to light it up as a beacon of hope. But we have to move; the battle rages, and we must get miss Carlyle before we rush in to take Abigail..."

"...you came in here to save me from myself," he realised. "Thank you, I could not find my way alone I did not even realise," he said with a wince," "So much...son, yes once..." Then he said in a rush, "The forest god had a beacon, his lamp lit by thel fire and he had his cones. He would take a cone and plant it. And the red fire would kill him, he was old and it was time to be reborn and his blood would water the ground and the cone and his body would be the earth and nurture the growth. The red fire wept and then waited for him to grow back so they could walk together again. That is the way it should be. But he still has his beacon, there is still hope. Yes, use my quintessence, that which is the hardest to share...that is what we thought to do. Yes, I am now Adley! And I also remember gravity," he said, glancing up at the tree. He must have fallen - out of his own mind. At least he did not fall on Arto - memory or not. And he remembered a lot of other things, including Dylan, and he forced himself not to shy away from it all as it all vied for attention but most important, what they had to do ahead.

He looked over at Arto with a nod, "Arto and Einje, it shall be done. I wonder, though, how the hell do you know all the things you rather ought not know about me, Kyle?"He shook his head, and started dragging Adley toward the portal, "No matter, let's hurry."

"Kyle!" he said. "My brother...his hands! How many of these people have I met before..." He let himself be pulled along, turning towards the portal as well and making haste, even as continued to talk, half to himself and half to Colin. "I'm still confused about one thing though," he said, with an amused smile that was also embarrassed by emotions. "English is not sufficient, it gives me no good pronoun to use for the one who is the vessel of an avatar that was once the androgynous father to my avatar's vessel..." he huffed and hurried through the portal.

"Arrogance and desperation...what of hope? I do not know what you speak of,"

"That is exactly the problem Einje, when someone are arrogant and desperate and then loose hope, that is when they do horrible things."Arto said sadly.

"Perhaps when I speak with the gods that would be my main complaint...horrible things happen to good people."

"Ah yes, that should indeed be something to take up with them, then again I have a feeling they will reply that the price of free will is the potential for suffering."The Druid said and looked up at you.

"Are you son of the earth then, if your name is rock?"

"Yes I am."Was all Arto had to say about that.

"After what you said, perhaps I should be thanking you for doing it right," he said in a wry tone.

"Perhaps...but even so I did end your life and for that I am sorry, you had committed a crime, but it was one of compassion and not malice...and for me...I fear all that death I saw in my time as an executioner, not death on the battlefield in a conflict between foes where it is kill or be killed, but rather taking the lives of helpless captives...drove me towards something even darker..."Arto said and looked out into nothing for a while.

"Run by lightning?" That pictures could move was less an issue to him, magick could do many things, some strange and impractical. But lightning...he skipped over the parts that made no sense and tried to remember the important parts instead. "Take a break from games, check to see if his hands hurt him. This I can do."

"Yes somehow that is the energy the games with the moving pictures run on, there will be many wonders in the future, but also coldness and apathy."The Druid said and sigh."For nothing comes without a cost...however thank you, the boy will gripe about it and think you are fussing, but it is good for him...and sometimes it is a good thing to have someone that would fuss over you...sometimes that can be a very good thing indeed."

"I will try. That sounds worse than molded field rations." He made a face.

"Oh it is but it is made to taste good so people will eat it, however it is unnatural shit I am telling you, it is not food from the earth it is shit cooked up in a badly trained alchemist lab, I can not believe I will like it out day."Arto said and spat on the ground in disgust.

"Kyle!" he said. "My brother...his hands! How many of these people have I met before..."

The druid looked up from where he sat under the tree when you asked this question and he smiled to you enigmatically but he said nothing.

he huffed and hurried through the portal.

You open your eyes and there was a flurry of activity around you. On the ground was Colin, also waking up now he looked almost sleeping, of course he had not been he had been in your Quiet getting you out. Around you where the non combatants and those with wounds that there hard to heal. Cara stood next to you, Rosario was there as well, and a man you did not know who had a pretty bad wound to his guts, next to your little group where the prisoners, bound and huddled together. It was clear that the ones sent after Doc and the fleeing pawns had returned and danger where afoot."Be ready to call our teleporter to get you out if we can not stop her."Crexia ordered Cara who stood there with a phone in her hand."If the spirit healer's trap fails, all I and the Honored Quesitor as well as our assistants can do is perhaps slow her down for a few moments, take those and escape do not look back."She continued Cara looked like she might protest but she nodded. In front of the non combatants and the wounded where you and Colin had been placed stood a wall of mages from both your groups, and in front of them a make shift circle consisting of Crexia, Udella and Olamide, Leon, Adjan and a tall Asian woman with long graying hair who's name you did not know but you think she was with the delegation from Lavender...the best practitioners of Spirit available that also had a similar enough Paradigm to work together, six of them. The young Rebis from Flamingo stood there with another phone and Crexia turned to her."As soon as I give the signal let our Adepts know we need the trap triggered...everyone else do what you can to slow that thing down but when I tell you to...flee...!"

While all of this was going on you felt Cara's gentle touch on your arm."Sodalis you are awake..."She muttered as if she felt it, then against Twilight where one of the specialties of her House she probably did."Do you need me to explain what is going on?"She asked somehow sensing that would be appreciated more right now than worried questions as to if you where well."You must be confused..."

"You would then have to let your apprentice use her magick then to know exactly when the serum stopped working and doing this a few times across several days to see if you could extend that period and then you would not only have to let her use magick to see that she had gotten her powers back, if she is as terrified of needles as you say she would be fighting against whoever was restraining her powers as it was happening tooth and nail, and this is a counterspeller we are talking about, a good one...this will not be safe to do on an unwilling subject."Udella warned and frowned.

Colin nodded, "The complications are worth thinking about, yes... Still, some better method than the serum will need to be found, quickly..."

"Hum...you are probably right and I will be quite busy fighting for my life for the foreseeable future it seams so just forget me asking."Allison said and shrugged.

He smiled, "Very good. And the best of luck to you."

"Why would we need such an artifact when we can make a portal, use a gate or traverse the Umbra? For the same reason we still use horses, I suspect," he said. "Ah...those without magic can use them." He tilted his head at Colin. "Then if we can do these wonderous things, make artifacts like that for all to use without disclosing our magic, surely these brilliant minds can stop these would be world-enders."

He shook his head, "The problem there is... well, suffice to say there are other complications that will present themselves. But the world-unmakers work too well in secret - that's their strength and their greatest danger."

"Arrogance and desperation...what of hope? I do not know what you speak of," he added, looking at Colin. "Are you sure your sacrifice was wrong? How does one even know such a thing...perhaps all these other battles were just practice for this one."

He frowned, "I sacrificed the ones closest to me... without their knowledge or consent. And then I ran, taunting everyone into a blood frenzy until I let myself be caught... and then I was shown the mother of my children; what she had suffered, how broken she had become during the tortures the enemy had piled on her before she was rescued... I forged the Traditions together in the fires of wrath and fear - and the seams have been cracking for centuries..."

"Good, perhaps there is hope for the boy then."Arto said with a slight smile.

He nodded, "Hope, yes... there's always hope. And with such a supportive family around him... My wife from the future told me we can lead him to a leap of faith, to undo what was done. He's still the one who has to leap..."

"Perhaps...but even so I did end your life and for that I am sorry, you had committed a crime, but it was one of compassion and not malice...and for me...I fear all that death I saw in my time as an executioner, not death on the battlefield in a conflict between foes where it is kill or be killed, but rather taking the lives of helpless captives...drove me towards something even darker..."Arto said and looked out into nothing for a while.

He frowned, "I think I want to verify a hypothesis when we get back... The name of the executioner should be a matter of record..."

"Hopefully yes such means can be avoided, and you are correct a crisis is coming, though the scale of it that I do not know."

He frowned, "I can guess - and I do not like what I am guessing."

"Yes perhaps you should have, but there is no changing that now and the young war council did stay together though you made a sacrifice that was not yours to make. a horrible thing, but we have all made our mistakes, all you can do now Craftsman is find a new way to move forward."Arto said softly he looked at you and sigh."Yes Tremere betrayed himself, he got arrogant and careless, he believed himself as good a necromancer as his mater, instead he doomed his House and so many souls still scream in pain over the result of that mistake, but perhaps that House to one day can be reclaimed, perhaps it can one day be renewed I am not sure if I want that for them, I still feel bitterness for the loss of my own House, but it could happen."

He pondered, "Perhaps the House Tremere should never be renewed, but remain a warning against fear and arrogance... but something new be built on the early ideals of cunning and diplomacy. Let not the mistakes be glossed over, but build anew on foundations that learn from the past."

"No...your battle brother here, after all I am just a memory, a part of a madness created by his own soul to protect him, and time do not flow in a straight line, all he know about you now and will ever know, I know as well, and thank you Craftsman for your kindness...be well, the both of you."Arto said and smiled softly."As for Kyle...yes some of my knowledge is from him but his future is in flux...if he makes it I might have more future memories from a boy with hair as red as my own...now go your time grows ever shorter."He urged and nodded towards the portal again.

He nodded, "See you in Boston, then... in a manner of speaking."

"...you came in here to save me from myself," he realised. "Thank you, I could not find my way alone I did not even realise," he said with a wince," "So much...son, yes once..." Then he said in a rush, "The forest god had a beacon, his lamp lit by thel fire and he had his cones. He would take a cone and plant it. And the red fire would kill him, he was old and it was time to be reborn and his blood would water the ground and the cone and his body would be the earth and nurture the growth. The red fire wept and then waited for him to grow back so they could walk together again. That is the way it should be. But he still has his beacon, there is still hope. Yes, use my quintessence, that which is the hardest to share...that is what we thought to do. Yes, I am now Adley! And I also remember gravity," he said, glancing up at the tree. He must have fallen - out of his own mind. At least he did not fall on Arto - memory or not. And he remembered a lot of other things, including Dylan, and he forced himself not to shy away from it all as it all vied for attention but most important, what they had to do ahead.

He nodded, "I had to come in after you - it seemed the safer way, rather than to try to talk you out of it outside, in the middle of the battlefield. This way, only I would be at risk, in case you were to become aggressive. I'm sure you would do the same for me - and you do, in fact, have my permission in advance to try - should it prove necessary in the future."

"Kyle!" he said. "My brother...his hands! How many of these people have I met before..." He let himself be pulled along, turning towards the portal as well and making haste, even as continued to talk, half to himself and half to Colin. "I'm still confused about one thing though," he said, with an amused smile that was also embarrassed by emotions. "English is not sufficient, it gives me no good pronoun to use for the one who is the vessel of an avatar that was once the androgynous father to my avatar's vessel..." he huffed and hurried through the portal.

He smiled wryly and paced alongside Adley through the portal, "It seems we keep encountering people from our past lives without knowing... Oh, and English is quite sufficient for that - the singular they is an old and reliable pronoun. And they were a hermaphrodite, not merely androgynous. There's an important difference."

You open your eyes and there was a flurry of activity around you. On the ground was Colin, also waking up now he looked almost sleeping, of course he had not been he had been in your Quiet getting you out. Around you where the non combatants and those with wounds that there hard to heal. Cara stood next to you, Rosario was there as well, and a man you did not know who had a pretty bad wound to his guts, next to your little group where the prisoners, bound and huddled together. It was clear that the ones sent after Doc and the fleeing pawns had returned and danger where afoot."Be ready to call our teleporter to get you out if we can not stop her."Crexia ordered Cara who stood there with a phone in her hand."If the spirit healer's trap fails, all I and the Honored Quesitor as well as our assistants can do is perhaps slow her down for a few moments, take those and escape do not look back."She continued Cara looked like she might protest but she nodded. In front of the non combatants and the wounded where you and Colin had been placed stood a wall of mages from both your groups, and in front of them a make shift circle consisting of Crexia, Udella and Olamide, Leon, Adjan and a tall Asian woman with long graying hair who's name you did not know but you think she was with the delegation from Lavender...the best practitioners of Spirit available that also had a similar enough Paradigm to work together, six of them. The young Rebis from Flamingo stood there with another phone and Crexia turned to her."As soon as I give the signal let our Adepts know we need the trap triggered...everyone else do what you can to slow that thing down but when I tell you to...flee...!"

While all of this was going on you felt Cara's gentle touch on your arm."Sodalis you are awake..."She muttered as if she felt it, then against Twilight where one of the specialties of her House she probably did."Do you need me to explain what is going on?"She asked somehow sensing that would be appreciated more right now than worried questions as to if you where well."You must be confused..."

Colin stirred, then gingerly got to his feet, taking in the scenario with a frown, "Bloody Hell, did something go dreadfully wrong with the mop-up down the corridor, or did miss Carlyle decide to join the party?"He frowned and looked to Leon, "Is your little tracking spell still up and running on your phone? Where's miss Carlyle at right now?"

((OOC: Wake up and hit the ground running... Well, Colin already knew what was likely to come next, right? ))

Colin nodded, "The complications are worth thinking about, yes... Still, some better method than the serum will need to be found, quickly..."

"Agreed and I will do all in my power to find some other method to control the girl's magick..."Udella said and sigh."And if the serum is dangerous past a few uses we need to figure that out as well."

He smiled, "Very good. And the best of luck to you."

Allison gave a why smile at that but she nodded."Thank you..."She muttered.

He frowned, "I sacrificed the ones closest to me... without their knowledge or consent. And then I ran, taunting everyone into a blood frenzy until I let myself be caught... and then I was shown the mother of my children; what she had suffered, how broken she had become during the tortures the enemy had piled on her before she was rescued... I forged the Traditions together in the fires of wrath and fear - and the seams have been cracking for centuries..."

"That is quite rough...and I can not give any judgment, that is not my place, I can only give my sympathies. I notice though you seam more broken up about what had been done to the mother of your young ones, than what your own did to you in response to your actions and from what you said the punishment they handed out was probably not a kind one, that you would think more of her than your own suffering tell me that even if you might have stepped wrong, your heart is noble."Arto said softly and looked up at you.

He nodded, "Hope, yes... there's always hope. And with such a supportive family around him... My wife from the future told me we can lead him to a leap of faith, to undo what was done. He's still the one who has to leap..."

The druid looked at you then he gently smile."Thank you Craftsman, that fills me with hope, and when the boy stand there before that leap of faith, give him a good kick in the behind."He said and his smile grew to a grin.

He frowned, "I think I want to verify a hypothesis when we get back... The name of the executioner should be a matter of record..."

"Very well...and you are right his name should be a matter of record, the Order likes to write things down."Arto said and nodded.

He frowned, "I can guess - and I do not like what I am guessing."

The Diedne just looked at you a dark look in his gray eyes.

He pondered, "Perhaps the House Tremere should never be renewed, but remain a warning against fear and arrogance... but something new be built on the early ideals of cunning and diplomacy. Let not the mistakes be glossed over, but build anew on foundations that learn from the past."

Arto pondered for a moment then he smiled and nodded."I like that idea, to let the name Tremere be a warning but making something new in the image of what the House once was...yes I like that, perhaps in the future such a thing can be made reality."

He nodded, "See you in Boston, then... in a manner of speaking."

The Diedne smiled and nodded."Yes I will see you in Boston Craftsmen, in a manner of speaking indeed."

Colin stirred, then gingerly got to his feet, taking in the scenario with a frown, "Bloody Hell, did something go dreadfully wrong with the mop-up down the corridor, or did miss Carlyle decide to join the party?"

Andy, who you had not met but she had been pointed out to you as a powerful Verbena healer from Lavender offered you a hand to help you up, she was tall and thin with a boyish face and short blond hair."Miss Carlyle is on the move towards us, the mop up was brutal and terrible but successful. The plan is for us that can fight to try to do...well anything to keep that monstrosity heading towards us busy while the Lay Crexia and her team do their work, if everything fail we are to call for pick up and get the hell out of here."Andy said and Hayden sigh and shouted."Names, careful of names!"The Verbena griped at him then she continued."I don't suppose you have any good ideas for a distraction for Miss Carlyle's Avatar to buy Lady...Cre...the Lady the time she need to spring the various traps they have in store that I have not been informed of? Oh and by the way can you fight?"The woman asked she seamed to be quite manner of factly. In the corner of your eye you see a little dancing abnormality, the kind that usually indicated that your future self had something to say, no one else saw the little dancing ball of time though.

He frowned and looked to Leon, "Is your little tracking spell still up and running on your phone? Where's miss Carlyle at right now?"

Leon looked pale and scared at the thought he might have to be an assistant in a Gilgul ritual but he nodded and threw his phone, a motorola over to you."Yeah it still works, Carlyle is that little dot coming closer though the hallways we have already been through...our commander have cast a spell to slow down time to give us a chance to prepare but something is up with her Voodoo for it is not working as well as it should either that or Carlyle is fighting it in some way."The Jerbiton said and Crexia frowned."It is Carlyle, it is as if time do not respond to her as it should...and young man, what I do is Hermetic ceremonial magick, not Voodoo which is a mix of African folk religion and Christianity, it is not a general all round term for magick."She added and looked at Leon who looked down."Okey okey..."He muttered and shook his hands in an apologetic gesture. Crexia nodded."Well at least my spell is slowing the woman down or rather speeding us up some, but I can only delay her so long."The archmage said and you saw strain and careful focus in her eyes. In your ear you heard a voice though no one seamed to hear it other than you, Anna's voice but older, a young woman's voice rather than a little girl."Perhaps the rote you made for me will distract Matty's Avatar Mentor...I know you said you made it just for me to bribe me, but you can use it if it is an emergency..."And then the soft voice was gone the thing was you had not yet made anything, much less a rote for your apprentice.

"Agreed and I will do all in my power to find some other method to control the girl's magick..."Udella said and sigh."And if the serum is dangerous past a few uses we need to figure that out as well."

Colin smiled, "Again, thank you... and I do incidentally wonder if the accumulated Primium could be somehow drawn out with quite mundane surgery? If it accumulates in the brain, then that's a fairly specific surgical specialty to rely on, as well..."

"That is quite rough...and I can not give any judgment, that is not my place, I can only give my sympathies. I notice though you seam more broken up about what had been done to the mother of your young ones, than what your own did to you in response to your actions and from what you said the punishment they handed out was probably not a kind one, that you would think more of her than your own suffering tell me that even if you might have stepped wrong, your heart is noble."Arto said softly and looked up at you.

Colin nodded, "I was torn apart, body and soul, for my misdeeds. And... it was well deserved. She, however, was left to live for a long time afterward, with the memories intact, and she apparently stopped using magic, as well. Not barred by an outside force, but by her own traumatized mind. I spent five hundred years picking myself back together... and even that was not long enough to soften the memory of seeing my precious Eloine in her suffering... The reason for the betrayal was good, but the reasoning that led to the betrayal... was like that of Tremere; a combination of hubris and fear, leading to the most horrid decision conceivable."

The druid looked at you then he gently smile."Thank you Craftsman, that fills me with hope, and when the boy stand there before that leap of faith, give him a good kick in the behind."He said and his smile grew to a grin.

He smiled wryly, "I will help lead him to the leap of faith, but I will not push him. You have no idea what his then-Mentor would do in the justified rage that would follow - and neither do I. And I have no desire to find out."

"Very well...and you are right his name should be a matter of record, the Order likes to write things down."Arto said and nodded.

He snorted, mostly good-naturedly, "Quite. The Order's greatest gift to magic: Bureaucracy. I can't deny that it has its uses, though."

Arto pondered for a moment then he smiled and nodded."I like that idea, to let the name Tremere be a warning but making something new in the image of what the House once was...yes I like that, perhaps in the future such a thing can be made reality."

He nodded, "I certainly intend to try - a house of diplomats and peacemakers, to unify through peace and diversity rather than trying to pull together a frenzied mob in search of its next target..."

Andy, who you had not met but she had been pointed out to you as a powerful Verbena healer from Lavender offered you a hand to help you up, she was tall and thin with a boyish face and short blond hair."Miss Carlyle is on the move towards us, the mop up was brutal and terrible but successful. The plan is for us that can fight to try to do...well anything to keep that monstrosity heading towards us busy while the Lay Crexia and her team do their work, if everything fail we are to call for pick up and get the hell out of here."Andy said and Hayden sigh and shouted."Names, careful of names!"The Verbena griped at him then she continued."I don't suppose you have any good ideas for a distraction for Miss Carlyle's Avatar to buy Lady...Cre...the Lady the time she need to spring the various traps they have in store that I have not been informed of? Oh and by the way can you fight?"The woman asked she seamed to be quite manner of factly. In the corner of your eye you see a little dancing abnormality, the kind that usually indicated that your future self had something to say, no one else saw the little dancing ball of time though.

He began to shake his head, then frowned at the sight of the little wibble at the edge of his vision, "I don't have any ideas right now, but I think I might be about to send me one from the future... Would you kindly steady me in case I lose my balance?"

Leon looked pale and scared at the thought he might have to be an assistant in a Gilgul ritual but he nodded and threw his phone, a motorola over to you."Yeah it still works, Carlyle is that little dot coming closer though the hallways we have already been through...our commander have cast a spell to slow down time to give us a chance to prepare but something is up with her Voodoo for it is not working as well as it should either that or Carlyle is fighting it in some way."The Jerbiton said and Crexia frowned."It is Carlyle, it is as if time do not respond to her as it should...and young man, what I do is Hermetic ceremonial magick, not Voodoo which is a mix of African folk religion and Christianity, it is not a general all round term for magick."She added and looked at Leon who looked down."Okey okey..."He muttered and shook his hands in an apologetic gesture. Crexia nodded."Well at least my spell is slowing the woman down or rather speeding us up some, but I can only delay her so long."The archmage said and you saw strain and careful focus in her eyes. In your ear you heard a voice though no one seamed to hear it other than you, Anna's voice but older, a young woman's voice rather than a little girl."Perhaps the rote you made for me will distract Matty's Avatar Mentor...I know you said you made it just for me to bribe me, but you can use it if it is an emergency..."And then the soft voice was gone the thing was you had not yet made anything, much less a rote for your apprentice.

He caught the phone and looked at the screen with a frown, then perked up to listen to Anna, "The rote I made to bribe... hum, alright, think fast... what can I pull out of my sleeve that would be suitable for an Apprentice and might Matty's Avatar..."He looked up in the direction Matty would be approaching from, "Wait, is the time manipulation affecting miss Carlyle's Avatar, as well, or just her? The little bastard's detached, remember?"

((OOC: Well, dull moments aren't desirable. Peaceful moments would be nice, but the Nephandi are kind of messing that one up... ))

((OOC2: I'll need a moment to think of something Colin would be bribing Anna with - within his power, what he knows of her power, and something he could pull out of his ass like this. Probably something involving Prime, since he knows little of Anna's abilities beyond that. ))

Colin smiled, "Again, thank you... and I do incidentally wonder if the accumulated Primium could be somehow drawn out with quite mundane surgery? If it accumulates in the brain, then that's a fairly specific surgical specialty to rely on, as well..."

"It is possible though brain surgery is hardly desirable, it is quite risky though I guess with the Union letting little droplets of information flow to the sleepers technology there is bettering as well, hopefully there are some other way to remove the residue."

Colin nodded, "I was torn apart, body and soul, for my misdeeds. And... it was well deserved. She, however, was left to live for a long time afterward, with the memories intact, and she apparently stopped using magic, as well. Not barred by an outside force, but by her own traumatized mind.

"That sounds most uncomfortable...but yes perhaps it was deserved as for the mother of your children I have heard of that happening before, Mercere have a few of those who have stopped using magick due to trauma, they still have the Gift of course but not the will to use it...it is a sad ending for a magus."Arto said softly and glanced up at you.

I spent five hundred years picking myself back together... and even that was not long enough to soften the memory of seeing my precious Eloine in her suffering... The reason for the betrayal was good, but the reasoning that led to the betrayal... was like that of Tremere; a combination of hubris and fear, leading to the most horrid decision conceivable."

The Diedne nodded and sigh."I see, there are few words I can say to offer any consolation, perhaps no consolation is deserved, but I will say you have my sympathies, you and the Lady Eloine as you called her."

He smiled wryly, "I will help lead him to the leap of faith, but I will not push him. You have no idea what his then-Mentor would do in the justified rage that would follow - and neither do I. And I have no desire to find out."

"Ah yes protective teachers, like bears with their cubs yes? Well it is understandable enough for a mage few bonds are closer than those between teacher and student, the one who teach you magick knows your soul."The Diedne said with a wry grin."Still a little push should not hurt...in either case I do thank you Craftsman."

He snorted, mostly good-naturedly, "Quite. The Order's greatest gift to magic: Bureaucracy. I can't deny that it has its uses, though."

"Ah yes...now is not that the truth."Arto said and gave a hearty laugh then he winced."Well their magick is fine, they learned to soften up a bit and work with a little less ceremony from us, and we learned other tools than trees and blood from them...a good trade if it had not been for this damnable war."

He nodded, "I certainly intend to try - a house of diplomats and peacemakers, to unify through peace and diversity rather than trying to pull together a frenzied mob in search of its next target..."

"You have my best wishes in this endeavor Craftsman if the well wishes of a memory mean anything."Arto said and smiled.

He began to shake his head, then frowned at the sight of the little wibble at the edge of his vision, "I don't have any ideas right now, but I think I might be about to send me one from the future... Would you kindly steady me in case I lose my balance?"

"From the future? Well I have heard stranger things, whatever works I will take it."Andy said and she stood so she would be ready to grab you if you got unsteady, there was something familiar in the efficiency of the Verbena's actions, she cared about what was and what problems she could solve everything else she blocked out of her mind for now, there was some indication the woman was or had been military, she was also well armed you saw, a 9mm hung in her belt right beside her ritual dagger as well as clips of ammo."

He caught the phone and looked at the screen with a frown, then perked up to listen to Anna, "The rote I made to bribe... hum, alright, think fast... what can I pull out of my sleeve that would be suitable for an Apprentice and might Matty's Avatar..."

Andy raised and eyebrow at your question but did not commented, the little ripple was still dancing around you just like Mara had described, probably Crexia's Time rote was allowing it to find you as it danced there was glimpses of Anna as a teenager, seventeen or so you think, with long blond hair in two braids, she had grown tall, and pretty, you saw your little green house on Horizon and Freddy playing with your little baby son, perhaps it would be five years into the future or so though it was just glimpses for now as the shimmer danced around.

He looked up in the direction Matty would be approaching from, "Wait, is the time manipulation affecting miss Carlyle's Avatar, as well, or just her? The little bastard's detached, remember?"

"I am fully aware of that, but since we do not know exactly where the so called little bastard is located at the moment I have been forced to target the spell to Miss Carlyle herself and not her over active soul."Crexia muttered as her brow knitted in concentration."Good to have you back by the way but yes we could be attacked by that abomination at any moment really depending on how far from it's host it is willing to wander or if distance ever matter to it...a most troublesome creature!"

(OOC: Nephandi like to piss in everyone's cereal, it is their job.)(OOC 2: Think away interacting with the anomaly might give him more hints but might also disorienting to long, it is always a choice to be made.)